POVERTY IN THE BOOK OF PROVERBS: LOOKING FROM ABOVE?

Eben Scheffler

Abstract

Employing the thoughts of French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941), the question is asked if the wisdom perspective(s) in the Old Testament regarding poverty were essentially made from a stance of basic self-interest, which (despite some positive admonitions to help the poor) fails to really engage in the latter’s plight. To locate the wisdom perspective(s) on poverty as one among many in the Bible, attention is briefly given to the latter. Various and diverse wisdom per-spectives are also indicated especially in the book of Proverbs (reflecting Bergson’s basic view). However, it is argued that the book also contains some proverbs which can be interpreted as going beyond a stance of pure self-interest. Some conclusions are drawn in view of present-day poverty eradication.

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